Biden to speak at SU on education
IF YOU GO:
What: ‘College Access and Affordability’
Where: Goldstein Auditorium, Schine Student Center
When: Wednesday, 10:30 a.m.
How much: free with SUID
Vice President Joe Biden will return to his alma mater Wednesday to deliver a speech on college access and affordability, in his role as chair of the White House Task Force on Middle Class Families.
Biden, a Syracuse University College of Law alumnus, will speak in Goldstein Auditorium at 10:30 a.m., followed by an address from Chancellor Nancy Cantor.
The discussion will focus on efforts to help families save and pay for college, according to a White House news release issued Monday. Other speakers joining Biden include: Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, Education Secretary Arne Duncan, Cantor and higher-education experts.
‘He’s aware of the work that the university is doing generally on the critical issues of college awareness access and affordability,’ said university spokesman Kevin Quinn.
The discussion is one of several programs organized by the White House Task Force on Middle Class Families.
President Barack Obama announced the creation of the task force in January, with hopes of raising living standards of the middle- and working-class families in America. Top-level administration policymakers comprise the task force, with Biden as chair. The task force works with federal agencies, proposes executive orders and develops legislative and policy proposals specifically geared toward helping working families.
When Cantor attended President Obama’s inauguration in January, she began speaking with Biden about the possibility of holding a meeting at SU, specifically with the task force in mind, Quinn said.
In her speech, Cantor will discuss the university’s involvement in Say Yes to Education, a program that allows Syracuse city school children accepted into SU to attend the university, free of charge.
‘Biden acknowledges the university and community’s collective work surrounding Say Yes (to Education),’ Quinn said.
Students, faculty and staff can pick up general admission tickets to the speech, available Tuesday at the Schine Student Center Box Office from noon to 5 p.m. with their SUID. Tickets are available on a first-come, first-served basis. All guests will be subject to security screenings; backpacks and large bags are prohibited.
Biden will also be in town Wednesday to help raise campaign money for Rep. Dan Maffei, D-DeWitt, The Post-Standard reports. He will speak at a campaign-sponsored luncheon at the OnCenter in Syracuse.
Those who contribute $1,000 or more will be allowed to attend a private reception and get a photograph with Biden.
Phone calls and e-mails over the weekend to Maffei’s office were not returned.
Biden last visited his alma mater this past May when he gave the commencement address to SU’s and the State University of New York’s College of Environmental Science and Forestry graduating class.
Published on September 7, 2009 at 12:00 pm
